


It's Cold Outside (but warm in me)

by GrassMower



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Knitting, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, side chankai, this is the only fic im actually proud of, warning: eggnog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 20:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrassMower/pseuds/GrassMower
Summary: Some gifts need to be a little more special.





	It's Cold Outside (but warm in me)

**Author's Note:**

> this is an older fic, but i felt like i should crosspost it here. you can read it on aff [here](https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1063594/)

 

The last days of November are gusty and sharp. In the mornings, Yifan has to pack himself up in five layers of clothing and turn the engine of his car on at least fifteen minutes before he leaves. The heater in his bedroom has died ten times since the end of October and Yifan is sure it will kill him one of these days. Especially since it has been snowing since the fifth of November.

Snow is pretty, especially in its undisturbed first hours, when every piece is still intact and only animal tracks have left their marks on the white blanket. Yifan likes staring at one particular snowflake at the time, watching it fall and blend in to complete camouflage with the other flakes. The snow best in the morning, when the sky is taking its time to become bright and the lights outside give it a golden glow. A cup of coffee steaming in his hand and Yifan’s morning is complete.

It’s a pity his boyfriend doesn’t appreciate snowy mornings as much as he does. Zitao has never been a morning person to begin with, always sleeping until past eleven. If there’s one thing Yifan has come to know in their five-year long relationship, it’s that Zitao detests extreme weather. Not only does he hate snow and every annoying consequence that comes with it, he can’t handle tugging winds or the summer sun, either.

Yifan thinks it’s because Zitao is a spring child, born only days after the first flowers have started to bloom again. He’s happiest when the winter scarves and mittens come off and his cold softens to a minimum level. Autumn is also one of Zitao’s favorite times of the year. Mostly in the beginning, when the summer temperatures go down to a livable level, and the leaves turn pretty to decorate the streets in colors exclusive to the season.

When Yifan thinks of spring he thinks of allergies, all those pollen in the air and all the sneezing. When it comes to autumn, Yifan thinks of dog poop hidden underneath the leaves. This year, undercover dog poop has ruined three pair of shoes already, but it’s alright -- because when Yifan comes home grumbling, Zitao will burst into a wave of not-so charming laughter and comfort Yifan in a way no one can.

Sunday morning. It’s minutes before eleven and Yifan sits by the window with an empty cup of coffee. His newspaper is folded away on the side table and for now he’s just staring outside, taking in the morning weather. Zitao will come down any minute now, as Yifan heard his footsteps just moments ago. The wooden steps creak one by one, sometimes with a long pause as Zitao needs to stretch or wipe the sleep gathered in the corner of his eye. Yifan is not waiting, so he just listens to the sounds his partner makes.

A few more creaks of the wooden floorboards towards Yifan, and Zitao is leaning down over the armchair for the first morning kiss. It’s short but expected, and Yifan enjoys it like any other.

“Good morning,” Yifan greets.

“Mhmm,” Zitao replies groggily while leaning on the back of Yifan’s seat.

“Sleep well?”

“Yeah.” Zitao yawns. “Is there any milk left? I want to make hot chocolate.”

“Should be. I was planning on making some eggnog so I got an extra carton.”

Zitao scrunches his nose up. Yifan chuckles, knowing Zitao hates eggnog. “Gross. What are you making it for? Thanksgiving was three days ago.” Zitao stills, but then proceeds to make a horrified look. “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna save it for next year.”

Yifan shakes his head with a smile. “Don’t worry. Your mom said I should bring some over for the Christmas dinner.”

Zitao groans, letting go of the armchair to move over to the kitchen. “Let’s just not go to the Christmas dinner. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”

Yifan gets up from his seat to follow Zitao to the kitchen. The male is at the counter, opening a new milk carton with more difficulty than needed. Chuckling, Yifan wraps his arms around Zitao’s waist and leans his head on his shoulder. “We promised her, Zi. Besides, if it’s really as bad as it was last time, we can just make up an excuse about you feeling sick and spend the rest of the evening together. Sound good?”

Zitao lets go of the carton and purses his lips. “Okay. We’ll go.”

Yifan presses a kiss to Zitao’s neck and grabs a mug for himself from the high cabinet, in need of sharing a fine moment of drinking hot chocolate on a winter day. “Fill mine too?” He asks Zitao, who pretends to be agitated by his request.

A smile and a _ding_ of the microwave later, and they’re together on the couch, cuddling while Zitao flips through the channels on the television. Yifan empties his mug in one chug because Zitao is phenomenal at making hot chocolate. Even with the cheap cocoa powder from the 24/7 store down the street Zitao knows how to make it taste rich and full. The presentation is Starbucks-worthy with the way the Chantilly cream is carefully sprinkled with cinnamon.

Yifan presses an appreciative, though wet kiss to Zitao’s cheek, who then wipes it off with a smile. “Speaking of Christmas…” Zitao begins. “What do you want? As a present, you know.”

Yifan sighs, slipping back into a comfortable position on the sofa instead of holding Zitao tight. “I don’t know. A good book would be nice. Or new diving gear, if we’re still going on that trip to the seaside in the summer.”

Zitao shakes his head. “I’ll figure something out.”

After a while, when Zitao has turned all his attention back to the television and he’s sipping his hot chocolate carefully, Yifan moves closer to his lover and pinches his thigh. “What about you then?”

Zitao shrugs.

“There must be something you want for Christmas.”

“Just being with family is enough.”

“I can’t just _not_ give you a gift, Zi. What am I going to say when your mom asks me what I got you? I bet she’s going to get you another one of those expensive bracelets again.”

Zitao heaves a deep sigh. “Fine... A sweater.”

“A sweater?”

“An ugly one. Like, with reindeer and Christmas trees.”

“What kind of present is that? I don’t want to give you that.”

 Zitao lets out a small laugh. “Kidding. Just get me a new phone cover or some shoes.”

\---

A new phone cover didn’t do it for Yifan. Neither did a set of earrings or a pair of shoes. Those would be gifts that could be easily forgotten if they weren’t extremely eye-catching, and for those things to be eye-catching they would be costing a lot of money. Yifan had the bad luck of the car breaking down at the wrong moment - a day ago, which means the money that was supposed to go to an expensive present has gone to a car bill and left a sad number in his bank account, and that leads to Yifan standing in a knitting store, staring at balls of yarn.

The workers, all at middle age or older, are staring at Yifan with curiosity. Yifan is thinking, but his thinking face is his thick eyebrows pulled into a frown and his jaw locked tight, making it more of an angry look rather than a thinking one. There are a lot of colors, lots of different knitting needles and lots of other things Yifan doesn’t know the purpose of.

After a lot of looking and thinking, a worker comes over to him with a smile. “May I assist you?”

“Yes, please.” Yifan answers almost desperately. “I want to make a sweater for my boyfriend… but I don’t really know where to start.”

“Okay, do you need help with the yarn or picking needle size or…?”

Yifan stills in place, shooting the worker a confused look. “Um… I don’t know… I just want to make a sweater.”

The worker seems to be feeling a little helpless at Yifan’s lack of knitting knowledge, but the smile does not leave her face once. “Let’s start at the beginning then.” She guides Yifan over to the knitting needles. “Do you want a tight sweater or a more loose fitted one?”

“It needs to be warm.” Yifan tells her, because that’s the only thing he’s one-hundred percent sure of.

“If I may ask, do you know how to knit?” The worker asks after stilling in front of the needle display.

Yifan’s cheeks color red in embarrassment. “No… is that a problem?”

The worker shakes her head, “No, no, it’s fine. We’ll start at step one. Choosing knitting needles is really important, but most of it depends on what you’ll be making. Now for a winter sweater you will be needing smaller ones so it will be more snug. Do you have his measurements with you?”

“Measurements?” Yifan asks with wide eyes.

The worker smiles tightly.

Yifan learns a lot of new things the next half hour. The worker seems to have a headache every time Yifan opens his mouth, but she stays polite with him, explaining every small detail until Yifan sees the logic behind it. When he tells the worker he wants to make the dominant color a mossy green and the reindeer burgundy red, she seems to be wanting to tell him that’s a terrible decision and no boyfriend would be happy about that, but her status as worker causes her to just bite it back and recommend shades of green and red that don’t melt the eyes.

The worker has a look of having bit into a sour apple after Yifan asks what stitches are, and that look resurfaces when Yifan asks why the thickness of wool matters. The other workers have taken interest once they notice Yifan has been in the store for a long time and start watching him in amusement.

When they finally reach the end of the track, and Yifan has swiped his card to pay, the worker hands him a flyer. “We offer knitting lessons on Thursday nights for a small fee. If you want this sweater done by Christmas, I kindly suggest you attend. Youtube’s not gonna cover it.”

Yifan stares at the flyer for a few seconds, observing the time and price before sending a grateful look. “Thank you.”

The worker grins while putting the products into a plastic bag. “My pleasure. Have a nice day.”

Yifan leaves the store contently, smiling down into the bag filled with knitting supplies. The wind is sharp along his cheeks and ears, unkind to bare skin of any kind, but there’s a smile strapped on Yifan’s lips. He thinks of the amount of work he’ll be putting in and that amount of work being transformed into Zitao’s surprised look, his charming laugh, and his soft kiss. They’ll be together at the fireplace; a golden glow on their flushed cheeks and a mug of Zitao’s hot chocolate in their hands, Zitao wearing the handcrafted sweater while cuddling closer to Yifan.

A sigh of satisfaction pulls from Yifan’s lips when he looks up to the 4 o’clock sky, admiring how it's already begun to darken.

\---

Today is Wednesday. Snowfall is still a daily occurrence, and Yifan has made the mistake of trudging through the slushed snow with a thin pair of sneakers. Lunch plans were made last Saturday with his college friend Chanyeol, to be at _their old café_ at two. The place isn’t far from Yifan’s house. Yifan thought the weather was mild today, but by now, just two blocks away from his house, he can’t feel his toes anymore.

Yifan is stuck with icy shivers for the rest of the journey, so when the warmly colored café comes into sight, he breathes a sigh of relief. Chanyeol is already in a window seat, two mugs set onto the table. Yifan fastens his pace, crossing the street through wet snow. Once Yifan has opened the door with a bell ringing through the place, Chanyeol looks up from his seat and immediately beckons him over.

Yifan takes a seat opposite of him. A steaming mug is pushed closer to him, causing the scent to enter Yifan’s reddened nose. “Smells good,” Yifan commentates while taking off his winter gear.

“Of course, I ordered your favorite.”

“Thanks.”

The small café is remotely calm apart from the whirring coffee machine – costumers talking in hushed voices and employees doing their jobs. Chanyeol is prodding the whipping cream atop his coffee with his spoon, waiting until Yifan has taken off his gloves and scarf. Yifan would be okay with Chanyeol already feasting on his beverage, but he knows it’s no use because Chanyeol is a mannered person. Chanyeol is always early and polite to anyone, but he has a hard time opening up to people. Thankfully, he is fully relaxed with Yifan.

“How is Zitao?” Chanyeol asks after Yifan has finally taken the mug into his numb hands.

“He’s good. Just a little grumpy because of the weather.”

Chanyeol chuckles, “Same old, huh.”

A smile pulls on Yifan’s lips before he nods. When Chanyeol shoves the whipping cream into his mouth, his phone lights up with a message. Yifan remembers Chanyeol has been dating someone for a while as he sees Chanyeol grinning at his phone. “How’s it going with that guy?”

Chanyeol looks up from his phone, slightly startled. “You mean Jongin?”

“Is that his name?”

“Yeah… He's doing well.” A smile can’t seem to keep itself off Chanyeol’s face, especially when another notification sound rings from his phone. Chanyeol immediately glows like the Christmas lights decorating the cafe. Yifan feels happy seeing Chanyeol like this, getting into dating scene and broadening his social circle.

After a while of watching Chanyeol and drinking from the hot beverage, Yifan sparks up a conversation again. “What will you be doing for the holidays?”

Chanyeol locks his phone and turns into the conversation, slipping his hand around the mug in front of him. “I was thinking… maybe we could celebrate Christmas evening with Yixing and Zitao.” Chanyeol proposes, swirling the spoon in his drink. “And invite Baekhyun too.”

“Baekhyun?” Yifan asks with brows furrowed. “Are you sure he’s free? Didn’t he say he was going to meet his girlfriend’s parents for Christmas?”

Chanyeol bites his lip, looking down into his coffee. “…They broke up three days ago.”

“Oh… did she…?”

“No. Baekhyun broke it off.” Chanyeol tells him somberly. “She admitted to cheating, and you know how Baekhyun feels about cheating.”

Yifan sighs. “His taste in lovers… he really needs to find better people. This is the third one who cheated on him.” He shakes his head in disappointment. “At least this one admitted it instead of getting caught in the act.”

Chanyeol nods, mouth turned down. “Poor Baekhyun.”

“I think it’s a good idea to celebrate Christmas eve together. I’ll invite Baekhyun the moment I get home.”

“Will Zitao be okay with it?” Chanyeol asks.

“I’m pretty sure he will be. We don’t have anything planned apart from a dinner on the twenty-sixth and we’ve already discussed presents.” Yifan informs him calmly, smiling from the memory of Zitao’s aggravation at the Christmas dinner last year. He was forced to play with the eight-year-old nephews for two hours, and then asked to put all the leftover food in the freezer at three in the morning.

“What are you getting him?”

Yifan immediately scratches the back of his head. “I’d like to keep it a secret. When Zitao sees I’m secretive about it, he’s going to try to find out what it is, and you know how Zitao is when it comes to getting what he wants.”

“I won’t tell him,” Chanyeol tries to assure.

Yifan shakes his head with a chuckle. “You’ve said that before, and ten minutes later you were giving him a list of every person I dated in college.”

“Okay, good point.”

Yifan and Chanyeol spend time at the café until the late sunset, catching up on everything they’ve missed since the last time they met. Yifan is happy to learn Jongin is someone who takes things slow, mainly because Chanyeol definitely needs someone with that kind of mindset. When he catches a glimpse of their conversation, it’s mainly talk about what they’re doing and how their day was, nothing on a heavy level of flirting. Jongin seems like a perfect match and Yifan is confident something good will bloom between them, especially with the smile that keeps reappearing on Chanyeol’s face.

At the end of their meetup, Yifan feels satisfied. Catching up with Chanyeol is always calming, mostly because of the laid-back atmosphere and the calm places Chanyeol chooses. Even when Yifan steps back into the harsh weather, he is still content, no longer minding his wet shoes and cold ears. Yifan says his goodbye to Chanyeol and watches him retreat with a smile. He thinks about tomorrow, and a tiny bit of anxiety slips in because he’s going to have to make up an excuse to Zitao, but he drops it, leaving it for tomorrow.

\---

“Where are you going?”

Yifan almost pauses to think up an excuse, but he knows it will look suspicious, so he continues tying his shoelaces. He remains silent throughout the process, only answering after he’s stood up and facing Zitao. “I’m going to my parents’ place.” Zitao gives him a confused look, to which Yifan is quick to reply. “I told you on Monday.”

“Oh… It must’ve been early in the morning if I don’t remember.”

Yifan chuckles. He feels a tiny bit of guilt for lying so easily and thus places an apologetic kiss on Zitao’s forehead. “I’m going now. I should be back in about an hour or two.”

Zitao gives him a smile, “Take care and say hi to them from me.”

“I will.”

It’s two past eight when Yifan gets into the car, bag full of knitting supplies sitting in the passenger seat. He’s kind of nervous, not really knowing what he’ll make of it and if it’s going to be any good. Before going, Yifan looked _how to knit a sweater_ up on his phone, and seeing the images made it look easy, but actually reading the steps was like those math equations in high school – seemingly impossible. _Five simple steps to knitting a scarf_ already looked a lot more doable, but Yifan vowed to make his boyfriend a sweater, so that’s what he’s going knit. Yifan is sure everyone who begins knitting is as clueless as he is, so he just hopes this instructor is able to teach him well.

Another reason as to why he’s nervous is because he’s not good with his hands. They’re clumsily big, and he already got a dark feeling the moment he held the thin needles in the knitting store. Thankfully, the kind shop worker bagged him up with thick 8mm needles. First she wanted to give him 6.5, but after seeing Yifan’s hand size she immediately went for a bigger size.

Yifan hopes everything will work out, because to give Zitao a gift like this would be immensely special.

After arriving at the designated parking lot, Yifan parks and takes a deep breath before killing the engine. Yifan unbuckles himself and the knitting bag, feeling mixed about this situation. The cold air hits his cheeks after stepping out, but Yifan just stares in awe as he can see the participants through the window. Most of them are middle-aged ladies, which is not surprising, but their projects look amazing. Not all are busy knitting, but the ones that are knit rather fast. Yifan closes his mouth after noticing it has fallen open and he concludes this instructor must be amazing.

When stepping inside, all eyes immediately fly to him, studying him with amused looks. “Hi,” Yifan greets softly.

It’s a little quiet, but an elderly lady with a gigantic scarf hanging from her knitting needles speaks up. “Are you lost, sweetie?”

“No, um,” Yifan holds up his bag of knitting supplies. “I’m going to knit a sweater for my boyfriend.”

The ladies immediately break out in cooing words, making Yifan blush with phrases like _‘I wish my husband did things like this’_ or _‘Oh, gentleman! What a lucky boyfriend you have!’._ Two ladies manage to pull him into an empty seat, in which he gets colors and patterns offered. Yifan is a little overwhelmed, so he just smiles at them, not really knowing how to reply.

“Alright, what’s this commotion all about— _oh._ ” The ladies turn their words to a whispering, and Yifan sees a short man standing in the doorway. “You must be that guy Yuna was talking about.” The short man sets his bag down on a table before striding over to Yifan, offering him a hand. “I’m Kyungsoo, the instructor.”

Yifan has a slight feeling of surprise, this guy is really small and he looks practically harmless. In contrast to his looks, his handshake is firm, and that is just the first puncture to the wall of assumption. “I’m Yifan,” he introduces after letting go of Kyungsoo’s hand.

“Alright. Yuna told me you seemed a little lost at the store so you’re not much of an experienced knitter, are you?” Yifan shakes his head with a faint flush on his cheeks, embarrassed. “Well, I’ll do my best to assist you. How about you come sit next to me to make things a little easier?”

Yifan nods obediently. After the two of them sit down and the commotion between the ladies has lessened, Kyungsoo opens the evening with a charming _welcome_. The ladies turn to their own projects as instructed, which leaves Kyungsoo looking through Yifan’s bag.

“You’re not on a project right now?” Kyungsoo asks with raised eyebrows. Yifan shakes his head. Kyungsoo takes the pine green yarn balls out, kneading it once before laying it down on the table. Then, Kyungsoo takes the berry red ones out. “Christmas colors.” Yifan nods in affirmation, but no other reply comes from Kyungsoo as he keeps digging through the bag. When Kyungsoo takes out the knitting needles, which are still in the package, his look goes blank. “Have you knitted before? Like, ever?”

“Um, no, is that a problem?”

Kyungsoo sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Well, that depends. What are you planning to knit?”

“I was thinking of making a sweater for Christmas.” Yifan tells him, avoiding the man’s eyes as his confidence is crumbling. Kyungsoo sure looks a lot more intimidating with this stern look on his face.

“A _sweater_?” He yells out. Yifan feels smaller and smaller with every move Kyungsoo makes. “You’re telling me you are an inexperienced knitter and you want to have a sweater done by Christmas?”

“I-is that so hard?” Yifan squeaks, catching Kyungsoo’s gaze with uncertainty.

“Well it isn’t exactly easy for a beginner, let alone an inexperienced one.” Kyungsoo heaves a deep, deep sigh again. Yifan feels slightly discouraged. “I’ll try to make it work. Let’s see how quick you are to catch up.”

Kyungsoo makes him move to a more secluded part of the room, separated from the others by a big table. Yifan is told it’s because the ladies will distract him with questions and coos, and for a beginner it’s important to concentrate on the work to avoid as much mistakes as possible. Kyungsoo’s sharp eyes will probably make sure that will not happen or get to it fast, but Kyungsoo insists they sit separated.

Kyungsoo removes the needles from the packet, studying the numbers at the bulky end before lying them back down on the table. “We’ll be doing a seven-day sweater. It’s a beginner sweater I did as one of my first projects.” Kyungsoo tells him. “Now, I hope you at least took measurements?”

“Well… I didn’t.” Yifan admits, earning an unamused look from the instructor. “But don’t worry, we have the same size!”

“And did you take _your_ measurements?”

Yifan scratches behind his ear, confessing a shameful ‘ _no_ ’. Kyungsoo doesn't even try to hide his irritation, unlike the shopkeeper.

While taking measurements, Yifan feels embarrassed having come unprepared like this. Kyungsoo’s look is disapproving from all angles. “So who is this sweater for? Your father? Or maybe your brother?”

“My boyfriend,” Yifan answers with a smile.

“How romantic,” comes Kyungsoo’s dry reply as he slips the measuring tape around Yifan’s chest.

“You don't think so?” Yifan questions after Kyungsoo’s harsh words.

“Depends on the boyfriend.” Kyungsoo says with a shrug. “For example, my ex once knitted me a scarf but it was so ugly I pretended I lost it. He thought it was cute to try my hobby. It wasn’t. The scarf had lots of missed stitches and was as stiff as a board.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I hope your boyfriend is one to appreciate a gesture.”

Yifan isn’t so sure about that. After all, he has only given gifts that were sure to make Zitao happy. Kyungsoo chuckles from where he’s standing before jotting down the last measurement.

“Sit down,” he orders. “I have some bad news-- your knitting needles are useless.” Kyungsoo seems to take joy in the shock of Yifan’s face. “But luckily, I’ll lend you mine for the time being since we will both be busy with this.” Yifan remains silent as Kyungsoo sets a basket on the table. It is filled with balls of yarn and needles of all colors, reminding Yifan of his grandmother’s similar collection.

Kyungsoo takes two sets of right-sized needles out, laying them down on the table. Grabbing the balls of yarn Yifan brought along, Kyungsoo makes him point out which color he wants as a base, but when Yifan tells him he’s planning on making reindeer of the red yarn, Kyungsoo gives him another shake of the head.

“You have seriously underestimated this. Learning how to knit a sweater in a few weeks is... just impossible.”

“I’m sorry,” Yifan apologizes in shame.

“Let’s just get to it. We’ve already wasted twenty minutes.” Kyungsoo holds the needles in his hands and turns his back so Yifan can watch over his shoulder. “Look closely. I will cast on now.” In slow, coordinated movements, Kyungsoo makes a loop, pulls yarn through it and makes a slipknot, which then is followed by the magic of making a second loop and poking the knitting needle through it. “Did you catch that?”

“…No.”

“Thought so. I’ll do it again. Watch my every move and repeat it in your head.” Kyungsoo does it a few more times before handing the needles over to Yifan, who seems lost at what to do. “Make the slipknot first.” Kyungsoo instructs, leaning over Yifan’s shoulder while pointing out more directions.

Yifan’s first attempt makes it slide out of its loop with Kyungsoo telling him that’s okay, but when he starts guiding Yifan’s finger, he pauses in shock.

“Your fingers are _gigantic_. This is going to be a disaster.”

\---

Yifan doesn’t know if it’s a successful evening, but it sure feels like it. When everyone is packing up their stuff, Yifan stares at his ten centimeters of knitting pride, mouth pulled into a wide smile. According to the ladies, he is _doing such a wonderful job_ and is _such a good boyfriend_ , to which Yifan can only blush and thank them humbly.

After Kyungsoo is done helping an elderly back to her car and the rest of the ladies have left, he crosses the room towards Yifan, stilling in front of him with his hands on his hips. Yifan looks up to see Kyungsoo studying his patch of knitting work. “It looks fine so far,” Kyungsoo commentates while tracing his fingers over the stitches. “I can’t really say anything when it comes to the time we have. We’ve got three weeks left and… I don’t know. I’m not sure if we can make it, especially since working at home is going to be hard.” 

“Oh.”

“But we’ll try. I’m sure once you get the hang of it, it’s going to be fine.”

Yifan smiles gratefully. “Thanks. Is it alright if I keep my bag here? My boyfriend and I live together, and you know, he might find it.”

“Sure.” Kyungsoo shrugs. “Just make sure to push your work to the end of the needle and put the ball of yarn on after so it won’t slip off.”

When Yifan is all packed up, Kyungsoo turns off the lights and locks the door, and the two walk to the parking lot together. Before Yifan moves to his own car, he thanks Kyungsoo. It’s waved off as nothing by Kyungsoo, who tells him he should hurry up and get back to his boyfriend.

The drive through the snow is stressful because of slipping danger, but at least the roads are no longer busy, the business hour peak long over. When Yifan pulls up to the driveway and reaches for his keys to kill the engine, his eyes widen in shock at the time. It’s well past eleven and he had promised to be home at ten. The lights are still on in the living room, so he figures Zitao must still be up.

Once inside, however, Zitao is asleep on the couch, drool trickling from his parted lips and his mug empty on the coffee table. Yifan sighs in both relief and adoration. “Zitao,” he calls in a deep voice, “come on, let’s get to bed.” A groan passes Zitao’s lips before he blinks. Yifan rubs his cheek with a smile, loving this mussed state.

“You’re back,” Zitao commentates while a yawn makes its way out. “What time is it?”

“Past eleven. We should go to bed.”

“Okay. Did you have fun?”

“I did.” Yifan helps Zitao up after fixing his bangs, steadying him all the way to the bathroom.

There is crusted sleep by Zitao’s eyes and he looks everything but awake, his hair still all over the place even if Yifan tried fixing his bangs. Yifan kisses his temple lovingly. He hates lying to Zitao, especially when he’s in a pure state like this, but he supposes it’s for the best. Spoiling his Christmas surprise is definitely not on the list.

It will only be a little while before Zitao becomes suspicious, so Yifan takes everything while he can as Zitao soon will be pissed for closing him out on a secret. Zitao really dislikes being excluded, even if it’s for his own good. Yifan tries not to sigh at the thought, but a small one still slips past his lips. Zitao gives him a questioning look, but Yifan kisses it away, not wanting to rise any suspicion.

\---

It’s a chilly Tuesday afternoon. The windows have been closed and isolated since mid-November, but the spots the heater doesn’t reach still feel like the wind is coming through – take the basement for example. Yifan doesn’t think there is much difference between the basement and outside, apart from the snow. The heater hasn’t worked here in a long time, but every time they wanted to get to it, it was no longer necessary as spring came.

They only come down to the basement when Yifan’s parents want to see their yearly summer photobook, or when the two of them are setting up and decorating the Christmas tree, which is why they are standing in the cold today. Zitao is cursing like a truck driver, not only because it’s freezing, but also because the string lights are stuck behind a heavy box. Yifan tries to help him out, bending over to reach with his long limb, but when Zitao pulls back to let Yifan do the work, he accidentally elbows him in the nose, causing him to topple back with a pained groan.

Half an hour later, Zitao has made his best hot chocolate as an apology and the both of them are in front of a box full of Christmas decorations. Zitao dabs the last of the blood away silently. Once done, Yifan gives him a thankful kiss on the cheek, and takes the mug into his hands.

“Let’s set up the Christmas tree once we finish our hot chocolate, yeah? I don’t want another incident,” Zitao says with a smile, pulling a light chuckle from Yifan’s throat.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “That sounds like a good idea.”

The two mugs are empty not minutes later, and Yifan is weaving the cursed string lights around the tree. Zitao sits while watching Yifan being clumsy. He doesn’t really know what Yifan is trying to do with all that leftover thread, but it’s pretty amusing. There’s still some sympathy left in him from knocking Yifan in the nose earlier, which is why Zitao gets up and helps his boyfriend the best he can.

Turns out Yifan wanted to hang the lights vertically. Zitao tells him there’s really no need for that, but he insists by showing pictures of perfectly hung Christmas lights on his phone. It will definitely not look like that because the lights in the photos were obviously done by experts, but Zitao complies with Yifan’s wish anyway.

With a lot of tumbling and hard work, they manage to hang the lights. It looks awful and Yifan fell almost every time he went to the top to attach the string to a branch, but the laughs that resound from the both of them makes it just fine. Yifan pulls him into a kiss, and the two of them stay like that for a little while. Although their lips are chapped from the dry air and Zitao’s hands are cold in his neck, the kiss is full of adoration and that’s more than enough.

\---

Baekhyun looks beyond miserable when he opens the door. There still hasn’t been any change in weather and Baekhyun seems to acknowledge that, and thus he lets Yifan in quickly. Yifan knows this state all too well, those puffy eyes and that weird scent of deodorant mixed with sweat. He knew Baekhyun was going to be like this beforehand, so he brought chocolates along. Baekhyun accepts them silently but with a grateful look.

After Yifan has taken off his thick winter gear, the two of them move to the couch. Baekhyun is somber and the air is tight because of it. Yifan feels uncomfortable.

“I wanted to ask something,” he begins, not standing the silence any longer.

Baekhyun’s eyebrows perk up, “Oh?”

“I’m working on a Christmas present for Zitao… but it’s kind of a secret. And I need to ask you if you can cover me tonight. I’m telling him I’ll be staying late at your place, if that’s okay?”

Baekhyun shrugs, “Sure.”

“So if he calls or anything, could you tell him I’m here?”

“Of course.” Baekhyun smiles sadly. The last thing Baekhyun probably wants to hear is lovers surprising each other and all the other couple stuff that comes with it, but Yifan really needs this favor as Chanyeol has a late shift on Thursday and Yixing is out of town for a week.

“Thank you,” Yifan says. A silence ensues in which Baekhyun stares at the coffee table and Yifan has the words ‘ _so how are you’_ on his lips. The conversation has to come up, because Baekhyun needs it as a talkative person. After his last relationship, Baekhyun talked to Chanyeol and Yifan about it for at least an hour, letting out all his thoughts to relieve the pain – it always works for him.

This time, however, Chanyeol isn’t here and neither are his helping hands. Chanyeol takes excellent care for people going through break-ups, knowing exactly what they need in both terms of food and mental care. Yifan wishes he was better at those things at times, but right now is not exactly a good time to think about himself.

“How are you holding out?” It’s not really as subtle as Yifan hoped it would be, but it gets the point across.

“Not so good.” Baekhyun answers in a hoarse voice. Yifan knows he’s about to cry and proposes the first thing that comes to his mind when he thinks about comforting a broken heart.

“Should I make some tea?”

Baekhyun ends up crying for about an hour anyway, but the tea is appreciated and he seems to feel better afterwards. The chocolates are gone within the blink of an eye, and the pumpkin soup Yifan makes, too. Baekhyun tells him how he doesn’t understand why it keeps happening to him, what he’s doing wrong, and all his insecurities when it comes to relationships. It’s a lost cause trying to assure Baekhyun it’s not him, so Yifan just settles for advising him to stay single for a while. Baekhyun is convinced for the most part, immediately texting one of his friends to ask if they want to go out on Friday.

For a little while, they talk about the Christmas party, which gets Baekhyun excited, exclaiming how happy he is they’re _just going to be with friends_. Yifan doesn’t have the heart to tell him Chanyeol is planning on bringing Jongin.

At the end of dinner, around seven, the air feels light. Baekhyun may have had one drink too many but he appears to have forgotten his break-up for the time being, which is a good sign. Yifan is glad Baekhyun doesn’t look as glum anymore and cleans up their mess happily.

That feeling vanishes as he realizes he has to call Zitao and lie to him. Exiting the house with a heavy heart, Yifan waves at Baekhyun before fishing his phone out of his pocket. After dialling Zitao’s number, Yifan’s mind wanders with every ring. Zitao will believe him for sure, but there’s always doubt left in his mind when it comes to lying. Yifan is just plain terrible at not telling the truth.

“ _Yifan_?” Zitao’s voice resounds through the speaker.

“Hey, Zi.”

“ _Is something wrong_?” Yifan feels bad for making Zitao sound so concerned, but he gets through it by telling himself lying is for the better.

“No! No, don’t worry. It’s just…” Yifan coughs awkwardly. “Baekhyun is still feeling bad. You know, about his break-up. So I wanted to stay a little longer. I’ll be back by ten for sure.”

“ _Oh, yeah, of course. Poor guy. Cheer him up, okay?_ ”

“I will,” Yifan assures. “Bye, I love you.”

 “ _Love you too._ ”

After Zitao hangs up the phone, Yifan breathes a sigh of relief. His chest feels tight because of the lies, but when he gets in his car he remembers why he’s doing it, and takes a deep breath before turning on the engine.

\---

Kyungsoo is busy knitting when Yifan comes in, going at a tempo he didn’t even know was possible. Yifan sits down next to him after greeting the ladies, who are, once again, cooing at him from the moment he steps through the doorway. Kyungsoo doesn’t look up, but he pauses and pushes the needles Yifan was previously busy with closer to him.

“I’m doing the sleeve ends since that’s too advanced for you.” Kyungsoo explains. “When you get to eighty rows, tell me and I will set you up with the front of the sweater.”

“Alright.”

A painful, awkward silence comes over them. Yifan knits at a slow pace because he’s still not used to the routine of making a stitch, but he’s even slower without focus. Kyungsoo is agonizingly silent, a different kind of silent than usually, without judging stares at Yifan’s knitting or irritated comments on the holes in row thirty-one.

Yifan has knitted an exact number of six rows when Kyungsoo is done with the first sleeve end. Kyungsoo may be a fast knitter, but the sleeve ends have a difficult technique that requires quite some time. In those same minutes, Yifan could have easily gotten to row eighty, but he hasn’t, which is why the silence is finally broken.

“You have sixty-four rows.” Kyungsoo commentates with furrowed brows. Yifan shoots him an apologetic look, even though he knows it won’t help him at all. “You could have been busy with the front already.”

“Sorry.”

Kyungsoo sighs, raking a hand through his hair. “It’s fine. Just know you’re going to have to work harder.”

For the upcoming five rows, Kyungsoo guides him as he works. Yifan feels a little pressured, but he’s working faster and not five minutes have passed before the eightieth needle is knitted. Kyungsoo nearly snatches it out of his hands before counting the stitches.

“Well done. There’s only three holes in the last ten rows.” Not detecting the sarcasm, Yifan beams at him happily, but Kyungsoo ignores his glowing look by grabbing a new set of needles. A ball of yarn is grabbed, too, and Kyungsoo begins knitting the first row at near light speed.

“What are you doing on Christmas eve?” Yifan attempts at making a conversation.

Kyungsoo pauses his fingers for a mere moment before continuing. “Don’t know. I’ll probably stay at home.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo answers calmly, still concentrated on the work in his hands. “I was supposed to have dinner at my parents’, but it got moved to the day after so now I’m free.”

“I’m having a party with my friends.” Yifan tells him in hope of keeping the conversation going. “It was supposed to be just me and my boyfriend but we figured celebrating with friends would be more fun.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t give a response anymore as he’s done with the first row. He passes the needles to Yifan, “Try to get to fifty rows, it would save you some time next week.”

“Are we going to work on the sleeves next week?”

“Yes,” Kyungsoo answers while getting back to his own work. “It’s going to take pretty long. That’s why you need all the time you can get.”

A silence falls over them again, but Yifan doesn’t make it last long. After finishing a row, he speaks up. “So where do you live?”

Kyungsoo leans back in the chair with a sigh. “Come on, Yifan. We both need to concentrate if we want this to be done in time. I don’t want to hurry at the last minute, and neither do you.”

“So I can’t talk?”

“No.”

Despite his own rules, Kyungsoo ends up talking to Yifan. It’s because Yifan makes a mistake, coincidentally the same his ex made in that _horrifying_ scarf, and it turns out Kyungsoo talks a lot when he’s outing his frustrations. It’s not really talking, it sounds more like ranting, but Yifan takes anything he can get. Kyungsoo rants about exes first, then about bad knitting, and then he makes the mistake of asking about Yifan’s boyfriend.

Yifan tells him about the first time they met – at Baekhyun’s barbeque party – and how _romantic_ it was when Yifan squirted too much BBQ sauce over Zitao’s burger. Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to think it’s cute or funny at all, so he starts complaining about Yifan’s clumsiness. Yifan isn't offended because it’s true.

The night ends when Yifan has done fifty rows, proudly so. After Kyungsoo has inspected and approved of the work, they close up together and the air of familiarity around them is quite pleasant. Yifan says goodbye with a feeling of content and warmth, especially now that the sweater is coming into shape nicely.

When he gets home late at night, and Zitao is already fast asleep in bed, Yifan presses close to him, looking forward to making him happy with a handmade present.

\---

It’s a cold Tuesday, colder than usual, but it’s a perfect day for Christmas shopping. Saturdays are busy and Zitao has crossed any other day off because of their work schedules. Yifan is patiently waiting for the coffee machine to fill their mugs while Zitao is already in the car. Both of them are packed up in winter gear, even though the only times they have to walk outside is from the car to the mall and from the mall to the car.

After the coffee machine is done, Yifan takes their steaming mugs and moves over to their car. Thankfully, Zitao has turned on the heater already, so when Yifan gets in it’s not freezing. He sets the mugs in their respective holders and reaches behind him for his seatbelt.

“You’re paying, right?” Yifan asks, just to be sure.

“Well, you paid the car bill, so it’s only fair.”

“It wasn’t _that_ expensive,” Yifan waves the topic off. “I’ll pay for the food for Christmas eve, though. I get my salary next week and my boss said he’s slipping the new year’s bonus in.”

“How much do you have right now?”

“I don’t know. I think about sixty or less.” Yifan answers, scratching behind his head.

“So the car bill _was_ expensive.” Zitao accuses.

“No, it was like five-hundred or something?”

A naughty smile comes over Zitao’s lips and Yifan doesn’t really know what to think about that until he opens his mouth to speak. “Does that mean… my present is really expensive?”

Yifan feels cold sweat break out all over his back. “Wh-what?” He squeaks nervously.

“Oh, nothing really… Just…” Zitao sighs, “my mom talked this stupid idea into my head and it won’t leave my mind.”

“What idea?”

 “It’s definitely something my mom would say…” Zitao seems hesitant to tell, causing Yifan to hold his heart. “She said you’re probably getting me an… engagement ring.”

Yifan chooses the wrong moment to blow on his coffee. The shock causes him to blow out something similar to a gust of wind, which causes the coffee to spill all over the steering wheel and his pants.

Zitao crosses his arms. “Is the idea seriously _that_ shocking to you?”

“That’s the last thing I’d think of!” Zitao looks seriously offended, and Yifan knows he's made a big mistake.

“How so? We’ve been together for five years!”

“I don’t mean it like I don’t want to propose to you, I mean it like…” Zitao raises an eyebrow, which makes Yifan only more nervous. “I mean it like I wouldn’t do it on a day like Christmas eve. I would make it way more special than that.” Yifan takes Zitao’s hands into his, in hope of melting his boyfriend. Zitao seems moved, fortunately, and unbuckles his seatbelt to press his lips to Yifan’s.

Truth is, Yifan expected Zitao to propose to him rather than getting on one knee himself, but Zitao doesn’t need to know that.

Yifan thinks that maybe, he should’ve thought about the topic more, but he has been so content with their current relationship it didn’t even come to mind. Right now, however, with his lips slanted against Zitao’s and their fingers laced, he thinks a ring wouldn’t be so bad.

\---

Though Yifan believes efforts are never in vain, this one was a lost cause. Zitao is standing in front of him, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. Yifan is in a vulnerable position, cold sweat on his back as Zitao is having none of his excuses. The week had been like every other, no more questions asked about last Thursday and no pressure until today. Yifan should’ve worked out an excuse earlier, so he could have avoided a confrontation like this one.

“Going to Chanyeol’s? On a Thursday, when he’s working until twelve?” Zitao shakes his head. “Come on. What are you hiding from me? You were gone last Thursday and the one before that, too.”

“Chanyeol has the day off,” Yifan reasons, but Zitao is an expert in pushing Yifan to the truth.

“So if I call Chanyeol right now, he’ll pick up and tell me you will be hanging out tonight?”

“Yeah,” Yifan tries to sound confident, but Zitao gives him a sharp look before fishing his phone from his pocket. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Well, you looked like you were sneaking out and stuttered the worst excuse I’ve heard in a while.”

Yifan goes red in embarrassment. “Please let me leave. I’ll explain once everything is done. I promise I’m not cheating on you.”

Zitao sighs, uncrossing his arms to put his hands on his hips. “Fine. Since I’m not your mom I’ll trust you and let you go. But I want to know every little thing because you know how much I hate secret stuff like this.”

“Thank you, Zi.” Yifan kisses his boyfriend square on the lips as a second thanks, igniting only a small response before pulling back. Zitao still doesn’t look too happy, but there is a hint of a smile. Kisses always work.

It’s almost half an hour later when Yifan sets his car in the parking lot. The ladies are already inside and he can see Kyungsoo sitting in the spot where they sat last time. Feeling guilty, Yifan quickly makes his way inside, immediately drawing a response from the women, who are happy to see him back. Kyungsoo scolds him for being late, even when Yifan tells him his boyfriend was giving him a hard time.

Knitting needles and the work on it are shoved into his hands pretty soon after Kyungsoo stops lecturing him. Under Kyungsoo’s pressuring eyes, Yifan makes more mistakes, mostly because it’s distracting to have someone watch him like a hawk. Kyungsoo fixes his mistakes in a few fast hand movements, showing just how much of a professional he really is.

When finishing what seems to be the thirtieth needle of the day, Kyungsoo snatches it out of his hands and does one on his own, but when Yifan watches closely, he sees Kyungsoo is putting on extra stitches. After a while of thinking he knows it’s because of the chest size, which needs to be broader than the bottom and middle.

“Alright, we’ll save the reindeer and the upper half for next week, for now we’ll finish the sleeves.”

“Are we going to make it?” Yifan asks.

“I think so. If we get the sleeves done today, it should be fine.” Kyungsoo answers. “By the way, you might want to pick up an extra ball of yarn before you get here next time. I think we might not have enough with what we have.”

“Okay.”

Kyungsoo puts the needles down and grabs the set with a sleeve end attached. “I’ll do the first row. From then on I’ll guide you through.” Kyungsoo retrieves a notepad with numbers from his basket, which don’t really make any sense until Kyungsoo points out which one are stitches and which one are rows.

Though the sleeves are small, they’re a whole lot of work, especially around the elbow area as every row has a different amount of stitches and the needle size has to be switched quite frequently, too. One sleeve takes about an hour, and when they’re finally done, it’s half past ten.

When Yifan is leaning back in his seat with sore hand muscles, Kyungsoo is still inspecting the stitches around the elbow. “Looks fine,” Kyungsoo commentates before laying the work down. “You could’ve knitted a little more loosely but it’s fine like this.”

“Does that mean we’re done for today?”

Kyungsoo chuckles while shaking his head, “No. I have to help the ladies and you are going to sew the sleeves.”

“Sew?” Yifan asks in shock.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to sew.” Yifan scratches behind his head, which tells Kyungsoo more than enough. A sigh comes from the man’s lips. Ten minutes later, Yifan is threading the sleeve together under the angry eyes of Kyungsoo. “I have never had anyone knitting as disastrously as you,” he commentates. His arms are crossed, and intimidating posture, and Yifan knows Kyungsoo is very much done with him.

“I’m sorry,” Yifan whispers.

“Just finish it already. The ladies are getting grumpy because of you.” The ladies don’t mind at all since it’s humorous to watch Yifan and Kyungsoo, and teasing such a _young handsome man_ is even better.

The night ends successfully, though past eleven as Kyungsoo ordered Yifan to stay until he was done helping the ladies. Only a small amount of work is left, much to both of their delight, and Kyungsoo salutes him with a tiny hint of a smile.

When he gets home, Zitao is really, _really_ angry at him for staying out so late, but Yifan is so happy about his progress of the sweater he kisses Zitao until the frown disappears from his forehead.

\---

Something disastrous is bound to happen when Yifan is feeling too happy. They were going to go grocery shopping for the Christmas eve dinner. Yixing is sitting in the car to next to him as his phone rings, and Yifan is too busy driving to pick up so he hands Yixing his phone.

“It says Kyungsoo. Do I still pick up?”

“Oh my God,” Yifan says out of panic while his phone is still blaring with an obnoxious ringtone. “Um, I don’t know, tell him I’ll call back later.”

Yixing swipes right to answer, “Hello, this is Yixing, Yifan’s friend. He’s driving so he can’t pick up.” Kyungsoo says something Yifan can’t hear, to which Yixing immediately responds. “Yeah, he told me to tell you he would call you back later.” Ten seconds later, Yixing has hung up and the phone is back in its original position.

“So? Did he say he was calling for?”

“Nope.” While popping the ‘p’, Yixing spots something by his feet, and bends over to grab it. To Yifan’s horror, he sees it’s the bag with the yarn Kyungsoo asked him to get, but he decides not to commentate on it to avoid suspicion. “He did say you should call him back as soon as you can.” Yixing starts toying with the yarn, raising an alarm in Yifan’s senses.

Focusing on the road, the conversation, and the yarn in Yixing’s hands becomes a little overwhelming, so Yifan decides to put an end to at least one of them. Before he can speak up, however, Yixing has already opened his mouth.

“Who is this Kyungsoo?”

“Just an old friend,” Yifan lies smoothly – mainly because he’s not looking at Yixing. Lying to someone’s face is hard for him.

“Really? From high school I bet,” Yixing says, pulling on the end of the yarn.

“Yes.” Yifan sees what Yixing is doing from the corner of his eye and chooses to correct him with the possibility of suspicion rising. “Be careful with that.”

Yixing immediately gets his hands off like the respectful person he is, but he sends Yifan a questioning look.

“It’s for my mom,” he explains in a haste, hoping Yixing doesn’t see the lie.

“What is she making?”

“Oh, I don’t know. She just told me to pick this up for her.” In Yifan’s mind it sounds like the worst excuse known to mankind, but Yixing closes the topic by asking what food he should bring to their meetup on Christmas eve, causing relief to course through Yifan’s body.

When he looks back, he realizes knitting is the last thing his friends would expect from him, but he’s so on edge when it comes this secret that he fails to see so. Yifan is not a man of handwork, and although knitting has changed his perspective on crafts, everyone around him sees him as a person who was and never will be a craftsman.

Truthfully, he shouldn’t be so paranoid, but he really wants to make this surprise happen.

He waits until Yixing is out getting a cart before calling back to Kyungsoo. “Hey, it’s Yifan.” He greets. "Why did you call before?"

Kyungsoo is silent on the other line before heaving a sigh. “ _I was looking through my calendar and you know what this Thursday is_?”

Yifan frowns, “Christmas eve?”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Kyungsoo says, “ _but the knitting lesson falls on that evening_.”

“Oh,” comes Yifan’s dumb reply. He rakes a hand through his hair. “Dang it.”

“ _What do you suggest we do?_ ”

“I don’t know.” 

“ _You can stop by in the morning._ ”

“My boyfriend will not agree to that. We have to prepare food and clean the house, and if I’m not there he will have my head.”

“ _Thought so. How about you come tonight? I can be there at nine._ ”

“Yeah, let’s do that. I think I can squeeze out one last excuse.”

“ _Okay. See you there._ ”

“Alright, bye.” Yifan hangs up with a new amount of pressure on his shoulders, but Yixing is gesturing at him so he pretends nothing has happened.

No matter how many times, the thought of lying to Zitao is repulsive. Yifan sighs before exiting the car.

\---

It feels weird arriving in the parking lot. Maybe because it’s empty apart from Kyungsoo’s car, maybe because Zitao let him go with just a disapproving look when he said he was ‘ _going out_ ’. Half of the lights have been turned off, and the silence inside feels eerie with none of the ladies here. Kyungsoo looks dark, sitting alone with only knitting needles to accompany him.

“Come sit, we have work to do.”

Yifan obediently takes a seat next to Kyungsoo. The man is busy setting up a white thread of yarn on a thin needle with a difficult technique. Not wanting to break Kyungsoo’s concentration, Yifan silently grabs the knitting needles laid out in front of him, and waits until Kyungsoo is done.

“If we have time left after the sweater is finished, we’ll add some snowflakes to make it extra festive.” Yifan agrees to that with a smile, but before he can voice his opinion, Kyungsoo speaks up again. “But first we have to do the front. I think we should put up four reindeer, is that okay with you?”

Yifan shrugs, “Sure. Are we going to put reindeer on the back, too?”

“I don’t know. It’s _your_ sweater.” Kyungsoo answers, grabbing the needles out of Yifan’s hands. “But it would save time.”

“Okay, let’s put reindeer on the front only.”

“Right. Now this part is actually going to be quite difficult. Almost every row has a different amount of stitches and we have to work with two threads as the reindeer need to be worked in, but with my help it should go fine. We just need to concentrate and make sure to finish in time.” Yifan nods in determination, watching as Kyungsoo casts the thread on to start a new row. “You know the routine by now, stockinette stitch but with two extra stitches when the row ends.”

“Yes, Sir.” With a glare, Kyungsoo pushes the needles back into Yifan’s hands.

“Get to work. We have no time to lose.”

Yifan finally understands the mechanics of adding an extra stitch, so Kyungsoo doesn’t worry when he’s busy with that, but when it comes to the reindeer Kyungsoo wants to direct his every move. It is a pretty complex pattern, but to Yifan everything is still complex. He doesn’t even understand casting on, let alone pattern knitting. Kyungsoo knows this, that’s why he’s here to guide Yifan through, but that doesn’t stop him from shaking his head at mistakes.  

In the last row of the pattern, which are really just the antlers, Yifan almost knits one stitch too early, but such a small detail sends Kyungsoo into a fit of rage. He spends about a minute commentating on Yifan’s sloppy knitting, and when he calms down he refuses to give the needles back until he’s knitted three rows of the reindeer.

At one point, Yifan’s phone starts buzzing with text messages, but he’s so concentrated on getting his row done only Kyungsoo takes note of it. It keeps on vibrating against the wood of the table, and it starts annoying him so he stops Yifan’s hands.

“Your phone has been going off for the past five minutes.” He tells Yifan, who immediately reaches for the device.

“It’s Zitao… and he’s asking when I’ll be home.” He gives Kyungsoo an expecting look.

“If you hurry up we might be done at eleven.” Kyungsoo says, crossing his arms. “But I wouldn’t count on it. Just tell your lover he shouldn’t wait for you.”

“Oh, he doesn’t really wait.” Yifan tells him while typing a reply. “If he wants to sleep he goes to sleep, you know.”

“Then why does he want to know?”

“Because he’s angry he’s not allowed to know what I’m doing. Well, that I’m keeping it from him. He hates secrets.”

“What about surprises, then?”

Yifan scratches behind his head, “Depends. But this is a gift and if there’s one thing Zitao always loves, it’s gifts.”

“Well, I hope you’re sure about that.”

Kyungsoo’s tone makes him a little less confident, but, by now, Yifan knows Kyungsoo is a bit of a pessimist so he tries to pay no mind to it. After all, Yifan is Zitao’s boyfriend, so who is Kyungsoo to question his Zitao-knowledge when he doesn’t even know what Zitao looks like. Yifan puts his phone away and picks the needles back up, trying to pace his work up so he doesn’t fall behind.

It takes a while, well over two hours, but the sweater is finally done – including the snowflakes. It felt like most of the work was done today, mainly because there wasn’t really a way to tell what it was going to look like with four separate pieces. Yifan decides the reindeer were the most stressful part, especially when Kyungsoo got all nervous with him. The collar was also a difficult piece, and without Kyungsoo’s help it would have been a disaster for sure.

Sewing has become a little less tricky, and the stockinette stitch has been engraved into his mind by now, so Yifan takes that as a step to learning handwork. When looking at the fully finished sweater, he feels so proud of himself, proud for this piece to be gifted to Zitao. Kyungsoo actually gives him a smile when he lifts the article up, and a moment later he feels a hand patting him on the shoulder.

“Looks good.”

It does look good. Yifan can’t stop smiling. The colors are ugly, he can admit that, but he’s so overwhelmed with accomplishment he doesn’t even care. “He’ll love it.” Yifan can finally say with absolute certainty.

Another smile passes Kyungsoo’s lips, “Alright, Romeo. Let’s clean up. I’m sure your boyfriend wants you home by now.”

Five minutes later, Kyungsoo and Yifan are standing outside, Yifan holding his leftover knitting supplies and the wrapped up sweater. After Kyungsoo locks the door, he looks up at Yifan, who seems ready to say something.

“Thank you.”

Kyungsoo chuckles, “It’s nothing. Haven’t had this much work in a long time so I suppose it was kind of fun.”

Yifan smiles with a bit of red on the cheeks, still embarrassed at his lack of skills. “I’m sorry for being such a mess. I hope I didn’t cause you too much trouble.”

“Everyone has to learn.” Kyungsoo tells him with a shrug.

“I guess…” Yifan mumbles. “So, will I see you next year?”

“Next Thursday!” Kyungsoo exclaims before walking towards his car with a smile. Opening his car door, he says his finishing line. “Don’t be late, and _bring measurements_!”

Yifan laughs while getting into his own car, a joyful feeling left behind by today’s happenings.

The nightly lights and snow are calming to his previous adrenaline boost, and when Yifan comes home he just can’t wait to see his lover. He lays the sweater under the tree with a big smile on his face and makes his way upstairs, an immense feeling of bliss when he pulls a sleeping Zitao into his arms.

\---

The following day is pretty stressful. Both of them sleep in because Yifan was pretty beat last night, and if he isn’t there to wake Zitao up, Zitao will sleep until there’s not a pinch of tiredness left in his body. Yifan still wakes up first, but it’s already past eleven. With a gasp at the time displayed on his phone, Yifan shakes Zitao’s arm nearly violently, and the latter wakes up with a bear’s groan.

“Zitao, it’s nearly eleven thirty, get up!”

It takes a while for his lover to process the words, but he shoots up from the bed with a sound akin to a scream and runs to the closet to grab some clean clothes. “Yixing is going to be here in an _hour_ and we haven’t cleaned the kitchen! He’ll get a heart attack if he has to work in a kitchen that filthy!”

Yifan is already sprinting to the bathroom and so, their disastrous morning begins. The heater in the hallway gives its last heat, the hot water runs out halfway through Zitao’s shower, and Yifan drops the mixer on his small toe while moving it back into its cabinet space. In the first fifteen minutes Yixing is in the house, he already drops a glass salad bowl and a mug, then burns his tongue on the hot chocolate.

The preparation is one catastrophic mess, but the food turns out just fine, even if the bread is a little burned on the left side. Around lunchtime, when Yifan is slurping on some reheated pumpkin soup from yesterday, someone rings the doorbell. Zitao gives Yifan a frown before opening the front door.

“Baekhyun?” Yifan hears Zitao say.

“Hi. I came early – I hope that’s not a problem?” His voice sounds hoarse. He must probably look pretty sad.

“Of course not, come in! Yifan just reheated some pumpkin soup, would you like to have some?”

“Sounds good!”

None of them commentate on Baekhyun’s red-rimmed eyes. It’s obvious he came here to escape his loneliness, so to remind him of it would be cruel. Zitao is, fortunately, good at keeping one busy, so he takes Baekhyun on some last-minute grocery shopping. The only thing needed is milk, but Yifan adds a few things to the list to keep them out – not that he doubts Zitao’s ability to keep Baekhyun’s mind off things.

With Zitao and Baekhyun gone, Yixing asks Yifan to come help make the banana pudding. Honestly spoken, Yixing asking anyone to help him prepare food really just means passing the kitchen gear to him, but at least it makes Yifan feel useful. Yixing is a good cook, and his desserts are just a little slice of heaven. Yifan doesn’t know where Yixing learned all of this, but he’s glad for it when he gets a taste of that mushy banana pudding.

Zitao and Baekhyun come back with a bag too big to only contain the items on the grocery list. Revealing the contents, Zitao holds up some booze excitedly, claiming they didn’t have enough yet. Yixing takes one bottle of wine happily while muttering about _adding some taste_ to the salad. While unpacking the groceries, Yifan watches Baekhyun reheat another bowl of pumpkin soup.

The following hours pass by quickly after Baekhyun insisted on playing Clue. It hadn’t been touched in years and the dust is making Yixing sneeze, but it’s a fun occupation with a glass of wine close by. Zitao ends up solving the murder, making everyone remember he’s played this game a million times. Before they know it, the doorbell is ringing, signalling the arrival of Chanyeol and his date.

Jongin is a little shy, but he introduces himself to everyone politely and manages to fall into a conversation with Baekhyun fairly easily. Chanyeol smiles bashfully when Zitao elbows him in the arm with a knowing look, and Yifan thinks he’s never seen him glow this bright. It’s easy to see the two of them are in love with each other.

Baekhyun has noticed it, no doubt about that, but he tells Yifan he’s happy for Chanyeol when the topic comes up. He looks less bitter about other people’s love than he did after his last break-up, and he mentions taking Yifan’s advice seriously. Yifan appreciates that and offers Baekhyun another glass of wine.

When Yixing announces it’s time for dinner, a mouth-watering smell is already wafting through the entire house. The six of them take a seat around the dinner table, commentating on the grace of the feast. Yixing went all out. From the perfectly marinated chicken to the refreshing potato salad, it all tastes like five-star food. Yixing has a proud look on his face as he watches everyone eat, and he has the right to feel that way after presenting such a meal.

Yifan eats too much banana pudding, way too much after a supper that big, but the rest of the table does the same thing. That’s how the six of them end up around the tree with aching stomachs. The dishes are stacked up in the kitchen for Yifan and Zitao to get a headache over tomorrow morning, but right now they’re enjoying the sight of Baekhyun holding a mistletoe over Chanyeol’s head.

“Kiss him!” Baekhyun orders Jongin, who’s not sure what to do with the situation. Chanyeol burns in embarrassment at Baekhyun’s over-the-line tipsy state, and tries to stop him by hissing his name, but Baekhyun ignores him completely. “Kiss! Mistletoe kiss!”

While Chanyeol tries to stop Baekhyun from embarrassing him even further, Jongin tugs on Chanyeol’s sweater and presses a swift kiss to his lips. Baekhyun starts screeching in excitement while Chanyeol is just speechless, and Jongin is looking away with a blush on his cheeks. At that moment, Yifan feels a pair of familiar lips against his cheek, and he turns to return the kiss, this time on Zitao’s lips. Yixing smiles at them once they’ve separated, then suggests they get on with the presents.

Baekhyun, who is having a bit of a rush, is first to give a present. Everyone takes turns, until there are few presents left under the tree. The sweater is still there, and Yifan can honestly not wait to give it. After Jongin receives mittens from Chanyeol, they kiss again, much to Baekhyun’s pleasure. Yifan thinks it’s about time he hands the sweater over, so he gets up from his comfortable seat on the sofa and grabs the present from under the tree.

“This one is for Zitao,” Yifan announces, and he has the immediate attention. Zitao looks excited when accepting the gift from his lover, but waits with unwrapping until Yifan is right next to him.

“Come on, open it! Everybody wants to see the secret gift!” Baekhyun exclaims, causing Yixing to gently clamp a hand over Baekhyun’s mouth and pull him back on the floor.

Zitao opens the wrapping paper agonizingly slow, tape piece by tape piece, but once an ugly green fabric comes into view, the rest is ripped off. He holds the neatly folded sweater up so it unfolds, and the full thing is into sight.

Kris’ cheeks go a little red at the deadly silence and Zitao’s expressionless face, so he decides to speak up. “I knitted it myself… with a bit of help,” he admits, awaiting Zitao’s reaction with his teeth digging into his bottom lip.

Zitao’s fingers glide over the stitches, and there’s suddenly a tear going down his cheek. Yifan stills in shock, because he doesn’t really know what to do with that reaction, but then Zitao is half-laughing, “This is so ugly…”

Relief comes over Yifan, because he knows that when Zitao has both tears and a smile, it’s a good gift. Hooking an arm around his lover’s waist, Yifan pulls him close for a kiss on the cheek. “What do you think?”

“It’s so ugly,” Zitao repeats with a hiccup.

“Why don’t you try it on?” Yixing suggests.

Half a minute later, Zitao is standing in the doorway, wearing the ugliest piece of clothing Yifan’s ever seen on him. Baekhyun is sobbing against Yixing’s arm with his nth glass of the night, moaning about how good of a boyfriend Yifan is. Chanyeol and Jongin are cuddled up, watching Zitao showcase his sweater with smiles on their faces.

Zitao tears up again and Yifan takes it as his cue to take Zitao back into his arms. Yifan pushes some strands on Zitao’s forehead aside and places a kiss there, softly and slowly, before murmuring, “Do you like it?”

“Of course I do!” Zitao retorts. Then he sighs. “A store-bought one would have been fine, too. You didn’t have to go all out.”

“I wanted to. Besides, I learned how to knit and how to sow, and a lot of other things!” Yifan tells him, smoothing his thumb over Zitao’s cheek. “But most importantly, I made you happy. That’s the only thing that really matters with presents.”

Zitao visibly melts from Yifan’s heartfelt words, a new set of tears coming down his cheeks before he buries his face in the cleft between Yifan’s neck and shoulder. All of Zitao’s words become incoherent after that. Baekhyun’s cries for _a lover like Yifan_ against Yixing’s shoulder raise in volume and Chanyeol and Jongin’s kissing turns a little inappropriate -- however, Yifan pays no attention to any of those things as he captures Zitao’s soft lips again and again.

Maybe a store-bought sweater would have caused a little less drama, and a little less tears, but it wouldn’t have made Zitao feel as special.

 

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**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it please leave a comment! :D


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